Wireless Video/Audio Signal Transmitter/Receiver

ABSTRACT

This invention is new to the field in two ways: [1] it sends audio/video signals wirelessly between tablet computing devices and smartphones to projection devices instead of using attached cables, and [2] it does not require an app, a second computing device, a driver, a download, or a “jailbreak” of the computing device to function properly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. [30706480], filed [2011 Dec. 13].

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

I have invented a wireless audio/video signal transmitter/receiver. One application of this device could be to wirelessly send audio and video signals from a handheld device to a projection device such as a television or other projector.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This device is a tablet computer (e.g., an Apple iPad or similar unit) audio/video accessory consisting of two parts: the first part, a plastic and electrical wiring composite device that attaches to the ‘audio/video out’ port of the tablet computer and is coupled to a transmitter that sends the tablet's audio and video signals using industry-standard radio frequencies to the second part, which consists of another plastic and electrical wiring composite that is a radio frequency receiver coupled with an MDMI/VGA video attachment. Users attach the transmitter portion to a tablet computer, and the receiver portion to a standard LCD projector or other device such as a television, in order to display the contents of the tablet computer on an LCD projector or television without the use of a VGA cable directly linking the two devices. In summary then, the device consists of two parts, and each part has two distinct but joined sections. The first part consists of an ‘audio/video out’ section and a radio frequency transmitter; the second part consists of a radio frequency receiver and an HDMI/VGA female connector. Together, these two parts will work in concert to [1] attach to a tablet computer such as an iPad and transmit its audio and video signals wirelessly to the second part which will [2] receive the audio and video signals and convert them to standard HDMINGA display and stereo audio format for use with numerous computer monitors, televisions, and projectors.

What are the advantages of this invention? The main advantage this device has over existing devices is that is lets the user roam freely while displaying the contents of a computing tablet such as an iPad; all previous devices are based on a VGA cable connecting the tablet computer directly to a projector; this wireless device allows for a wireless connection more in keeping with the mobile nature of computing tablets such as the Apple iPad. Hence, the main advantage of this wireless audio/video signal transmitter/receiver is that it allows for greater freedom of movement during presentations and teaching sessions. Although there are other projector connecting devices, they are all cable-based. That makes this connector superior because it is:

-   -   More versatile     -   Less awkward for the user to move about during presentations     -   More in line with the interactive nature of teaching and         presentations     -   More able to give presenters and teachers the freedom to allow         others to use their computing device during a class or         presentation while carrying their computing device with them     -   Simpler to use for mobile computing pad presenters     -   Easier to connect since it does not require long, expensive         cables     -   Less expensive to connect since long HDMI and VGA cables are         very expensive     -   More capable of being customized to varying heights and         placements of projectors than a heavy, long cable

The principle advantage is to reduce the problem of being tethered to a heavy, thick, long cable while using a light, mobile computing tablet. The wireless nature of this transmitter/receiver means only a very small unit is attached to the mobile tablet, offering a distinct advantage over devices that require being directly connected to an audio/video cable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

What are the components of the device, and how do they interact? This application includes eight drawings describing the device parts. FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are various views of the wireless transmitter. FIG. 1 is a side perspective FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are various views of the wireless receiver. FIGS. 7 and 8 are flow charts indicating how the audio and video signals travel from origination to destination using the wireless transmitter and receiver. FIGS. 9 and 10 are block electrical diagrams of the transmitter and receiver.

More specifically, FIG. 1 is a front elevated view of the transmitter portion of the device, showing a computer tablet attachment 1 as it connects to a cable 2 which sends audio and video signals to a wireless transmitter 3. FIG. 4 then shows a wireless signal receiver 4 attached to a VGA connector 5, which connects to a standard computer monitor, LCD projector, flat screen television, or other display device.

How does the invention achieve its result? The technological computing landscape has been changed drastically in the recent past by the proliferation of mobile computing pads. These pads offer long battery life, powerful display features, and a high degree of mobility. However, technology to display the contents of these mobile computing pads, such as the Apple iPad, currently are based on long clunky cables that tie the user to a specific location when presenting information from such a tablet device. This restriction of movement goes against the grain of the mobility inherent in these computing pads and tablets. Therefore a wireless device, which increases the mobility of the presenter while still allowing the contents of the computing pad to be displayed to a large audience, would be both effective and desirable.

How the wireless audio/video signal transmitter/receiver achieves its result (see FIG. 7 and FIG. 8): The purpose of this device, its desired result, is to send the audio/video signal of a mobile computing pad to a display device wirelessly, without the use of a bulky cable that tethers the device to one location.

How the device achieves this result (see FIG. 2): A user attaches the transmitter portion of the device to a mobile computing tablet using 1. The audio/video signal from the tablet travels from 1 through the wires in 2 to the transmitter 3 as shown in FIG. 2. That signal travels wirelessly to the receiver 4 in FIG. 4 where it is then sent to a VGA connector 5 in FIG. 4. This connector 5 attaches to any number of standard VGA male connectors on monitors and projectors, thus sending the audio/video signal from the mobile tablet to a display device. As shown specifically in FIGS. 9 and 10, a power controller and power switch supplies the transmitter with power through a 5 volt supply and an internal rechargeable battery for local logic, a programming connector, and also to an HPD to a display port HDMI level translator and a 30-pin Apple connector. The HDMI level translator communicates with an auxiliary integrated circuit to a video network processor and an RF transceiver with multiple antennas for spatial diversity. The audio and video signal from the iOS or other handheld computing tablet or smartphone device is thus sent to a receiver. The receiver uses a grounded 5V power supply and multiple antennas for spatial diversity to receive the sent audio and video signals into a video network processor as HDMI. This then flows into an MUX device that separates HDMI 1 and HDMI 2 signals; 1 is sent to an HDMI to VGA adapter; while # 2 is sent to an HDMI external connector. The VGA adapter then runs RGB and HSynch/VSynch signals to an external VGA connector; the video networking ‘in’ processor also separates the stereo audio signal into an on-board audio buffer, through a line level audio apparatus, and into a stereo audio connector. The end user connects this receiver to a projection device such as an LCD projector, television, or other display device, and then wirelessly mirrors the display of the handheld computing tablet device onto the television or other display.

Description of components: A Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector is a three-row 15-pin DE-15 connector. The 15-pin VGA connector is found on many video cards, computer monitors, and some high definition television sets. A DE-15 is also conventionally called an RGB connector.

DE-15 is also conventionally called an RGB connector, or HD15 (High Density, to distinguish it from the older and less flexible DE-9 connector used on older VGA cards, which has the same shell size but only two rows of pins). VGA connectors and cables carry analog component RGBHV (red, green, blue, horizontal sync, and vertical sync) video signals, and video display data. The same VGA connector can be used with a variety of supported VGA resolutions, ranging from 640×400 px @70 Hz (24 MHz of signal bandwidth) to 1280×1024 px @85 Hz (160 MHz) and up to 2048×1536 px @85 Hz (388 MHz). This makes the connector compatible with a wide range of projection devices, from standard computer monitors to LCD projectors to HD televisions.

In a female DE15 socket (the side contained in the proposed new device), Pin 1 is RED for red video, Pin 2 is GREEN for green video, Pin 3 is BLUE for blue video, Pin 4 is ID2/RES, formerly Monitor ID bit 2, and is reserved; Pin 5 is a GND for Ground (HSync), Pin 6 is RED_RTN for red return, Pin 7 is GREEN_RTN for green return, Pin 8 BLUE_RTN is for blue return, Pin 9 is KEY/PWR formerly key, now +5V DC, Pin 10 is GND for Ground (VSync, DDC), Pin 11 is ID0/RES formerly Monitor ID bit 0 and is reserved, Pin 12 is ID1/SDA, Pin 13 is HSync for the horizontal sync, Pin 14 is VSync for the vertical sync, and Pin 15 is ID3/SCL for Monitor ID bit 3. This detailed listing is for the 15-pin VESA DDC2/E-DDC connector; the pin numbering is that of a female connector functioning as the graphics adapter output. In the male connector, this pin numbering corresponds with the mirror image of the cable's wire-and-solder side. The device's receiver part would have a ‘female’ VGA attachment. VGA production is well-known and well-established. Its production history is by its designer, IBM based on the D-subminiature architecture from 1987 to the present day.

HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transferring uncompressed digital audio/video data from an HDMI-compliant device (“the source device”) to a compatible digital audio device, computer monitor, video projector, or digital television. Because HDMI is electrically compatible with the CEA-861 signals used by digital visual interface (DVI), no signal conversion is necessary, nor is there a loss of video quality when a DVI-to-HDMI adapter is used. As an uncompressed CEA-861 connection, HDMI is independent of the various digital television standards used by individual devices, such as ATSC and DVB, as these are encapsulations of compressed MPEG video streams (which can be decoded and output as an uncompressed video stream on HDMI). For digital audio, if an HDMI device supports audio, it is required to support the baseline format: stereo (uncompressed) PCM. Other formats are optional, with HDMI allowing up to 8 channels of uncompressed audio at sample sizes of 16-bit, 20-bit and 24-bit, with sample rates of 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz. HDMI also supports any IEC 61937-compliant compressed audio stream, such as Dolby Digital and DTS, and up to 8 channels of one-bit DSD audio at rates up to four times that of Super Audio CD. With version 1.3, HDMI supports lossless compressed audio streams Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Some tablet computers, such as the Microsoft Surface, Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry PlayBook, Vizio Vtab 1008 and Acer Iconia Tab A500, support HDMI using Micro-HDMI (Type D) ports. Others, such as the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer support the standard using Mini-HDMI (Type C) ports. The iPad has a special AN adapter that converts Apple's data line to a standard HDMI (Type A) port. Samsung has a similar proprietary thirty-pin port for their Galaxy Tab 10.1 that can adapt to HDMI as well as USB drives. The Dell Streak 5 smartphone/tablet hybrid is capable of outputting over HDMI. While the Streak uses a PDMI port, a separate cradle is available which adds HDMI compatibility. Most of the Chinese made tablets running Android OS support HDMI output using a Mini-HDMI (Type C) port. Most new laptops and desktops now have built in HDMI as well. Many recent mobile phones support output of HDMI video via either a mini-HDMI connector or MHL output.

Next, wireless communication between the two parts of the device. Wireless communications is the transfer of information between two points (in this case, the transmitter portion and the receiver portion of the device) that are physically not connected. Distances can be long or short, as a few meters as in this example. The device's two parts could be constructed using the block diagrams attached to this description by any competent electrical engineer. Other common and frequently-used examples of wireless technology include GPS units, garage door openers, wireless computer mice, and cordless telephones. The wireless operation referred to here permits short range communications that are impractical to implement with the use of wires or cables. Since the idea behind tablet computing is mobility, especially when teaching, training, or delivering information to audiences, wireless frees the presenter from being cabled to the front of a classroom or auditorium; such cabling limits the presenter's movements and restricts their ability to move around the room interact with their audience Furthermore, wireless allows a teacher to lend control of the tablet computer to students or attendees, increasing their interaction with the device and the material being presented without having to leave their seat.

The term wireless is commonly used to refer to systems (e.g. radio transmitters and receivers, remote controls, computer networks, network terminals, etc.) which use some form of energy such as radio frequency (RF) to transfer information without the use of wires. Information is transferred in this manner over both short and long distances—for the purposes of this device, that distance would not exceed 20 meters.

The transmitter module is an electronic component using a variety of radio signals to remote control the target device which has a built-in receiver module. RF modules are widely used in garage door openers, wireless alarm systems, industrial remote controls and wireless home automation systems as well as classroom tools including wireless teaching tablets such as eInstruction's “Mobi” and Smart Technology's “SMART Tablet.” The same technology is used in the receiver portion of the device.

What are alternative ways that the invention can achieve its result? The way the device parts are shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the transmitter portions are joined by a cable, and the receiver portions are not. However, the invention could achieve its result in the following alternative ways:

-   -   Both parts could have their sections joined by a cable;     -   Neither part could have their sections joined by a cable,     -   The transmitter could be cable-free, and     -   The receiver could have a cable.         The idea behind a cable on the transmitter is to allow it more         flexibility when moving around the room; if a presenter bumped a         chair or table or desk with the device, the cable will flex and         prevent damage to that section. But the device could achieve its         result by:         Both parts having cables,         Both parts not having cables, or         Either part having or not having a cable.         Different sizes and lengths of transmitters and receivers can be         used.         Bluetooth™ or any other wireless send-receive technology can be         used in place of radio frequency technology in both the         transmitter and the receiver. The mobile computing device video         out attachment is shown as one for an Apple iPad; it can be         altered to fit numerous other devices, including but not limited         to the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the BlackBerry         PlayBook, the Kindle Nook, the Kindle Fire, the HP TouchPad, the         Microsoft Surface, and any number of other mobile tablet         computers and computer netbooks, as well as laptop and notebook         computers. 

1. The first claim for patent protection in this application is to the means of achieving a connection between a handheld or tablet computing device and a display device-wirelessly and transporting VGA/HDMI video and audio. The second claim refers to the design of the device: a transmitter attached to the handheld or mobile or tablet computing device, and a receiver near the projection device. The third claim refers to the general types and specific manufacturer- based tablets and computing devices that the invention will operate with, including Apple iPad, Apple iPod, Apple iPhone, Samsung phones and tablets, Motorola phones and tablets, BlackBerry phones and tablets, Microsoft Surface and other Microsoft phones and tablets, as well as any other phone or tablet running the iOS or Android or Windows operating systems. 